又中又英 | Loose lips sink ships | 褚简宁
Silence is golden. Many of you will know this saying, which means it's often better to say nothing than to talk too much. But a lot of people like to blab. To blab means to talk too much or carelessly about secrets that you should not share with others. Reporters try hard to get exclusive news from people, such as government officials, by making them blab about things that are confidential. I must admit I tried to do that too when I was a reporter. There is an American saying that warns people against blabbing.
The saying is "loose lips sink ships". The expression "loose lips" is used to describe people who talk too much, especially about sensitive issues, that they should not be discussing with others. It is similar to the word "blab". The idiom "loose lips sink ships" originated during World War II when the US government put up posters urging the military and ordinary Americans to avoid careless talk that could benefit the enemy. The message of the wartime posters was that enemy spies could sink American warships if they found out about military secrets through careless talk by US citizens.
It was also meant to discourage Americans from spreading rumours, even true ones, that could hurt morale during the war, such as military setbacks. The idiom "loose lips sink ships" is used nowadays to discourage people from discussing private or sensitive issues that could cause a negative effect, such as a stock market sell-off.
Silence is golden.你们很多人都知道这句老话，它的意思是「沉默是金」，很多时候不说话比说太多要来得好。但许多人都喜欢blab——to blab是指喋喋不休、多嘴，又或随便泄露一些你不应该跟人说的秘密。记者们都努力尝试令某些人，例如政府官员大讲特讲（blab）一些机密的资讯，以求从他们取得独家新闻。我必须承认，我当记者时也试过那样做。有一个美式谚语，警戒人不要多嘴乱说（blabbing）。
那句谚语是"loose lips sink ships"。习语"loose lips"是用来形容那些「口疏」、关不住嘴巴的人，他们容易泄露一些不应该跟人说的敏感议题。它跟"blab"一字意思相近。成语"loose lips sink ships"源自二次世界大战，当时美国政府张贴海报，力劝军队与一般的美国人避免草率说话，以免敌方得益。这个战时海报要传递的讯息是，敌方间谍若能从美国公民一些疏忽的谈话中发现军事秘密，足以击沉美国的战舰。
那亦是用来阻止美国人散布流言，即使是真的，例如战况受挫，因为那会在战争期间损害士气。今天，成语"loose lips sink ships"则是用来劝阻人讨论私人或敏感议题，以免带来负面影响，例如股票市场的抛售。
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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻
